History TooBleakStoppedCaring / Film

* A major reason why ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' is one of the most hated movies in the Recap/DisneyAnimatedCanon is that, aside from Chicken Little and his close friends, literally every one of the townspeople is an unlikable bully/jerk, including Little's own father Buck, who doesn't stand up for his son when he's made an outcast. After watching them make Little's life a living hell for two-thirds of the movie, even when the movie finally reaches its climax, it's actually ''satisfying'' to see the town getting besieged by an alien invasion.

* ''Film/TheDescent''. This one is of the "likeable character, hopeless story" flavor. The [[EightDeadlyWords audience apathy]] doesn't originate from the characters being that unlikeable, as all of the characters, including the character written to be [[BaseBreakingCharacter divisive]], are sympathetic and relatable. This means that the horror the girls endure is that much worse, and that much more difficult to swallow. As the name implies, the movie [[TraumaCongaLine only goes down]].

* ''Film/TheDescent''. This one is of the "likeable character, hopeless story" flavor. The AudienceApathy doesn't originate from the characters being that unlikeable, as all of the characters, including the character written to be [[BaseBreakingCharacter divisive]], are sympathetic and relatable. This means that the horror the girls endure is that much worse, and that much more difficult to swallow. As the name implies, the movie [[TraumaCongaLine only goes down]].

* One factor behind ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'''s status as a ContestedSequel. The movie retcons the events of previous ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies and picks up where ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' left off. However, similar to ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'', it ends up [[HappyEndingOverride rendering the events of that one pointless]] by not only having the movie begin with [[spoiler: John Connor's murder at the hands of a former Skynet Terminator]], but also has Judgment Day happen anyway and a dangerous new A.I. take Skynet's place.

* One factor behind ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'''s status as a ContestedSequel. The movie retcons the events of previous ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies and picks up where ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' left off. However, similar to ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'', it ends up [[HappyEndingOverride rendering the events of that one pointless]] by not only having the movie begin with [[spoiler: John Connor's murder at the hands of a former Skynet Terminator]], but also has Judgment Day happen anyway and a dangerous new A.I. take Skynet's place.

* ''Film/TheDayAfter'' and its [[TransAtlanticEquivalent British counterpart]] ''Film/{{Threads}}'' both suffer heavily from this trope, which is the ''point'', as both films sought to demonstrate that in the event of a nuclear war, there will be no happy endings. As such, it can feel pointless to root for any of the characters, since they're all fated to die horribly or ([[FateWorseThanDeath perhaps worse]]) live as wretched scavengers in an irradiated, ruined world. This is especially true in ''Threads'', where a full-scale war breaks ou,t as opposed to the limited exchange seen in ''The Day After'', with society (and human language) subsequently crumbling to the point that the post-war generation will never rebuild civilization. While the message is certainly an important one, in this case, some people definitely tuned out [[DontShootTheMessage before the films could get their message across]].[[labelnote:*]]This did not hold true when ''The Day After'' initially came out; at the time, a happy ending (or something that resembled a happy ending [[FridgeLogic if no one looked at it too closely]]) was so common that audiences genuinely expected one. The lack of one was both a surprising and sobering experience to audiences of the time.[[/labelnote]]

** ''Film/{{Magnolia}}''. The rather self-centered behavior displayed by many characters in the cast, made it hard for some viewers to sympathize with them. With the exception of hospice nurse Phil Parma and Officer Jim Kurring, who’s quite possibly the one genuinely good character in the film.

** ''Film/DayOfTheDead''. The characters from the previous two films had their flaws, but some of them were still nice. In this third movie, we have the military, who are horrible people who only know how to answer everything on the basis of violence. And then we have the scientists, who are debatably less then noble for making irrational decisions that don’t help anybody, and whose boss is a madman who is teaching zombies to be docile and smarter, and feeds them with bits and pieces of their dead friends. Not surprisingly, many viewers hope that the zombies will kill them all.

** ''Film/SurvivalOfTheDead'' is the moment that this trope hit rock bottom in this series. Every single major character is a loathsome asshole, "BewareTheLiving" personified, and the WackyWaysideTribe that is most important to the plot is a pair of FeudingFamilies that can't stop trying to kill each other even when they are being literally gnawed on by the zombies. Not surprisingly, this was the biggest BoxOfficeBomb of the whole series.

** ''Film/{{Casino}}'' is basically ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' without the humor or likeable characters, and with even more extreme violence and a whole lot of portentous symbolism. Consequently, it's much more divisive than its predecessor.

* The films of Creator/PaulVerhoeven almost always tend to suffer from this trope. Virtually everyone is a complete and utter sleazebag, and the so-called "[[DesignatedHero heroes]]" tend to be apathetic at best and borderline [[SociopathicHero sociopathic]] at worst. The frequent {{Gorn}} and explicit sex don't help matters either. Specific examples:
** ''Film/RoboCop1987'' didn't shy away from having {{corrupt corporate executive}}s, [[DirtyCop corrupt law enforcement]], and [[AxeCrazy crazed psychopaths]], featured lots of violent deaths, and took place in a CrapsackWorld that seemed to have no limits, though it did have likeable characters and a decent story with a satisfying if bittersweet conclusion. The [[Film/RoboCop2 sequel]], which Verhoeven did not direct but co-written by Frank Miller (see his examples above), is even worse in this regard. The amount of darkness in it is one of the reasons Creator/PeterWeller didn't come back for ''Film/RoboCop3'', also co-written by Miller, as it featured even more violence than the 1987 original, frequent explicit use of the fictional drug Nuke, scenes meant to show more of Murphy's humanity were cut, and one of the main villains, Hob, is a [[SirSwearsALot fouled-mouthed]] [[EnfantTerrible 12-year old]].

** Although ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is partly a comedy, it is a very dark comedy that suggests that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are as animalistic as any other creature in outer space]]. Despite the fact that the genocidal alien bugs are clearly the bad guys (although there are some hints that they're actually just scapegoats for human propaganda), [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the humans have become arrogant and brutal in the course of fighting them]]. Condemned criminals are executed on live TV, computer websites pump users full of [[PatrioticFervor overbearing propaganda reminiscent of World War II newsreels]], schoolchildren are encouraged to gleefully stomp on helpless insects in a form of FantasticRacism, people are denied citizenship rights if they do not serve in the military, the {{drill sergeant|Nasty}} at the infantry boot camp is a bully (okay, sometimes a JerkWithAHeartOfGold) who seems to enjoy [[EqualOpportunityEvil physically humiliating both male and female recruits]], [[DisproportionateRetribution soldiers are punched in the face for uttering mildly rude remarks]], and the protagonist is at one point stripped to the waist and [[ATasteOfTheLash receives 10 lashes across his bare back]] in full view of the entire camp as punishment for ''accidentally'' causing a comrade's death (though the poorly designed, incredibly unsafe training area was just a disaster waiting to happen). It should be noted that the film is an inversion of [[Literature/StarshipTroopers the original novel]], in which the only executed criminal is a deserter who murdered a little girl, the drill sergeant uses a baton on the recruits sometimes but prefers to verbally dress them down, and the protagonist was whipped for actions that could have caused the death of a comrade through his negligence (violating established safety regulations to cut corners and make his job easier) if it had been actual combat rather than a training exercise.
* Creator/LarsVonTrier is the poster boy example of this trope due to the excessive cynicism from his works. The most egregious example including:

** ''Film/TheNeonDemon'' features a extremely dark depiction of the model and fashion agency, being mostly occupied by {{Jerkass}}es (even the protagonist who started as a NiceGirl, but then TookALevelInJerkass) with the lead character's boyfriend being the only sympathetic character who is eventually spurned by her, being riddled with SurrealHorror and {{Gorn}} and finally resulted in [[spoiler:the lead being killed and devoured]]. Unsurprisingly, it has many detractors.

** ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'' [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools is a deliberate example of this trope]]. Music/RobZombie makes it clear that there is no true good guy to root for. Only the flawed ([[HeroAntagonist Sheriff Wydell]]) vs. the worst of humanity ([[VillainProtagonist the Firefly family]]), making it one of the rare occasions where many enjoy the movie for its unrelenting bleakness.

** Many fans of the series have criticized ''Film/Alien3'' for being unrelentingly grim and nihilistic. The film ''starts'' by killing off the entire supporting cast of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', rendering the time Ripley spent rescuing Newt from the atmosphere processor on LV-426 as a [[HappyEndingOverride colossal waste of effort]]. In their place are a group of violent inmates on a backwater prison planet who sport shaved heads (making it difficult to tell them apart) and are almost all interchangeable. The few sympathetic supporting characters are killed off very early in the film or die en masse in the tunnel scene just before the ending. The audience has no reason to root for any of the inmates besides Dillon, despite the film's attempt to claim otherwise. It ends with [[spoiler:the lead character (Ripley) sacrificing herself to stop Weyland-Yutani from getting their hands on the xenomorph]], and the only people alive at the end are a group of W-Y commandos and a single prisoner. Even a few of the actors in the franchise has this view, including Creator/RonPerlman (who played Johner in ''Film/AlienResurrection'') and Creator/LanceHenriksen, who played Bishop in ''Aliens'' and ''3'' and despite being in the film, he didn't sugarcoat his view on it, flat-out calling the film nihilistic in both the documentary and commentary.
** ''Film/AlienCovenant'': [[spoiler:The hopeful tone at the end of ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' is rendered null and void in the first half-hour, as the Engineer home planet is completely wiped out and Elizabeth Shaw dies ([[DeathByCameo off-screen, no less]]) via experimentation by David. The crew of the ''Covenant'' are killed off in increasingly-messy ways. Not to mention that David (the villain) always seems to have the upper hand on the protagonists. Some viewers have claimed that some of the plot points are {{Ass Pull}}s just to make sure that David wins.]]
** A common complaint about ''Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem'' is that the film tries ''way'' too hard to be as disturbing and viscerally disgusting as possible. This manifests primarily in the form of uninteresting human characters (on top of them dropping dead like flies as collateral damage fodder in the extraterrestrials' conflict), the Xenomorphs being incredibly vile [[BodyHorror even by their standards]] (most notably with the Predalien turning ''pregnant women into Chestburster nests, having said bursters eating the child within''). The end result is a film that many consider too sadistic to enjoy.

* A frequent criticism of ''Film/{{Antebellum}}'' is that the first third largely consists of scene after scene of enslaved black people being abused, tortured and murdered by sadistic white supremacists (which continues into the final act to an extent). These scenes [[{{Padding}} do little to develop the plot or characters]], nor are they used to explore the subjects of racism and slavery in much depth beyond "it's terrible", so for some viewers it comes off as gratuitous. Most of the characters we sympathize with [[ShootTheShaggyDog end up dead]] after being subjected to endless torment, with only Eden/Veronica gaining any sort of agency. By the time the movie starts getting into the actual plot, many viewers had already given up (not helping is that some viewers also found the main twist to be weakly written, so for them it wasn't even worth sitting through the gruelling first forty minutes).

* Believe it or not, ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' can have this effect on more cynical viewers. The {{crap|sackWorld}}piness of Shermer, Illinois, pretty much goes from being PlayedForLaughs (as in ''Film/SixteenCandles'') to being PlayedForDrama. Every adult (barring the janitor Carl) is a viciously selfish scumbag of some sort, abusing the kids for their own benefit. The kids themselves, [[BlackAndGrayMorality while morally]] [[AntiHero better people]], are so deeply dysfunctional that one can't help but feel a bit nihilistic. "When you grow old, your heart dies" sums it all up '''perfectly.'''
* This was a common criticism leveled against ''Film/TheButterflyEffect'', with many reviewers claiming that it was so oppressively dark that it almost became [[{{Narm}} hard to take seriously]]. The entire first half-hour of the movie is a nonstop TraumaCongaLine for the main character, where he's nearly strangled by his institutionalized father, gets molested by his neighbor, accidentally murders a woman and her baby with dynamite, watches his dog get tied up in a sack and burned to death, sees his best friend lose his mind, and receives news that the love of his life has committed suicide. The rest of the movie follows his attempts to make everything better with time-travel...[[FromBadToWorse which end up making it]] ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]''.
* ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' has an InUniverse example. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, it is well in the ability of the surviving characters to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt by way of HeroicSacrifice. It's just that they've gone through so much trauma that they simply ''don't care anymore'' and let the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s destroy everything by refusing to satisfy them with death.]]
* ''Film/TheCandySnatchers'' is an ExploitationFilm centering on a young schoolgirl being kidnapped and held for ransom by the protagonists. If this sounds like a cheesy excuse for some sexy BoundAndGagged shenanigans, you'd be quite, ''quite'' wrong. It's actually a very bleak, cruel, and mean-spirited film where ''all'' of our viewpoint characters and nearly all secondary ones are [[BlackAndGrayMorality varying shades of evil]] that the audience can only root against. The one character left to care about is the completely innocent victim, and the physical, psychological ''and'' sexual (because ''[[GratuitousRape of course]]'' the movie would go there, too) abuse she constantly endures are portrayed as far too realistic and heart-wrenching to have any kind of amusing or titillating qualities; whatever the filmmaker's intention was, the only thing that her trauma and suffering can arouse in the viewer is pity. All told, it's an ''extremely'' poor choice for a "Bad Movie Night" with any friends you want to hear from again afterwards.
* ''Film/CannibalHolocaust'': On the one hand, you have a team of amoral documentarians led by a narcissistic psychopath who's willing to stage horrible atrocities in order to make his film more "interesting". On the other hand, the Yanomami tribesmen don't come off much better in spite of the film's attempts to portray them in a sympathetic light, being depicted as vicious cannibals and gang-rapists. [[OnlySaneMan Faye]] and [[IgnoredExpert Dr. Monroe]] are pretty much the only remotely decent characters in the entire film, and even so, the former [[AccompliceByInaction still participates in the team's crimes]] - albeit reluctantly - and in the end [[spoiler:suffers a brutal and protracted demise despite being the least guilty of the four]]. The relentlessly oppressive, nihilistic tone and [[{{Gorn}} graphic gore]] (including scenes of real-life animal slaughter) don't help, either. As Dr. Monroe so eloquently puts it: [[NotSoDifferentRemark "I wonder who the real cannibals are."]]
* The indie psychological drama ''Film/CombatShock'' is a particularly extreme example of this trope. Lacking the masterful cinematic technique and interesting characters of similar films such as ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}'', ''Film/TaxiDriver'', and ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', it instead presents the audience with a remorseless march into the dark as the protagonist, a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] [[ShellShockedVeteran veteran]] living in total poverty and in a broken household with a [[BodyHorror deformed child]], slowly loses his grip on sanity. It all culminates in [[spoiler:the protagonist murdering his entire family and then [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]].]] Many in the audience probably wished he'd done so earlier, thus sparing them the torment of watching him suffer.

* ''Film/TheDayAfter'' and its [[TransAtlanticEquivalent British counterpart]] ''Film/{{Threads}}'' both suffer heavily from this trope, which was arguably the ''point'', as both films sought to demonstrate that in the event of a nuclear war, there will be no happy endings. As such, it could feel pointless to root for any of the characters since they're all fated to die horribly or ([[FateWorseThanDeath perhaps worse]]) live as wretched scavengers in an irradiated, ruined world. This is especially true in ''Threads'', where a full-scale war breaks out as opposed to the limited exchange seen in ''The Day After'', with society (and even human language) subsequently crumbling to the point that the post-war generation will never rebuild civilization. While the message is certainly an important one, in this case, some people definitely tuned out [[DontShootTheMessage before the films could get their message across]].
** Although this did not hold true when ''The Day After'' initially came out: at the time, a happy ending (or something that resembled a happy ending [[FridgeLogic if no one looked at it too closely]]) was so common that audiences genuinely expected one. The lack of one was both a surprising and sobering experience to audiences of the time.

* ''Film/DontBreathe'' stars a trio of burglars who decide to break into the home of a blind war veteran and steal the $300,000 settlement he got when his daughter was killed in a car accident. Even with Rocky's admittedly sympathetic motive of moving herself and her sister away from their AbusiveParents, such a [[DesignatedHero repulsively horrid act]] ''would'' have you [[RootingForTheEmpire completely on the side of the blind man]], but he is so unsympathetically crazy [[spoiler:to the point he's an [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil outright kidnapper and rapist]]]] that it's impossible to root for him either. TheReveal about the Blind Man was meant to [[BlackAndGrayMorality give the robbers the moral high ground]] but it doesn't change how predatory and heartless their intended crime was (they were ''counting'' on him being a harmless blind man and thus an easy victim), basically making it impossible to want anyone to succeed.

* One of the many criticisms for ''Film/FantasticFour2015'' was that the film's tone was too serious and invoked DarkerAndEdgier for the sake of it without actually executing it properly (especially considering how the source material and previous film adaptations were much lighter and surreal in tone). Furthermore, the lack of any real bonds between the characters at the end of the movie - or the perception that the characters themselves are underdeveloped - have also been heavily criticized, as some critics argued that the grim tone would have worked if the characters were actually interesting or worth rooting for. As a result of said tone, the movie ended up being universally panned in terms of critical & audience reception as well as becoming a huge BoxOfficeBomb.

* An older example of this trope can be found in the Universal movie ''Film/HouseOfFrankenstein''. The characters aren't very likeable (with the possible exception of [[JerkassWoobie Daniel]]), the story is rather cynical, and in the end, [[KillEmAll everybody dies]]. Not even Svengoolie's SoBadItsGood sense of humor could save this one.
* ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' can be seen as this because it clearly resembles a Greek tragedy with little to no humor and shows a highly abusive father to the hero. Many put the blame on director Creator/AngLee, who for being best-known for character-driven dramas (aside from ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''), went too far with that approach.

* ''Film/IronSky'': Okay, so on one side of the conflict we have [[StupidJetpackHitler Moon Nazis]] who want to either conquer or perhaps destroy the Earth (the movie isn't quite clear which). On the other side you have the people of Earth, a collection of {{Jerkass}}es and [[TheDitz Dumbasses]] so universally horrible they actually come close to making [[AcceptableTargets the Nazis]] look like good guys by comparison. The whole thing is so bad, the fact that the movie's ending with [[spoiler: both the Nazis' moonbase and most life on Earth being destroyed]] can be considered a happy ending.

* ''Film/KickAss'' got this treatment from some (though not as much as [[Comicbook/KickAss the comic]], listed [[TooBleakStoppedCaring/ComicBooks here]]), particularly once a child (albeit [[LittleMissBadass a heavily armed one]] [[LaserGuidedTykebomb who kills people without mercy]]) gets brutally beaten[[note]]The reason this scene induces apathy varies: for some it's because [[WouldntHurtAChild a kid is being beaten up]]. For others, it's because they realize [[RootingForTheEmpire they're rooting for the beater]]. [[/note]].''Film/KickAss2'', on the other hand, was straight-up described as "unpleasant" by many reviewers and viewers, for being DarkerAndEdgier, BloodierAndGorier, and making characters both [[HappyEndingOverride suffer after finishing the first movie well]], and behave more as jerks as a result (culminating in Hit-Girl [[spoiler:making a GirlPosse [[BrownNote vomit and defecate profusely]]]]).

* Like ''Conspiracy'', ''Film/MenBehindTheSun'' is a dramatization of a historical event that resulted in the deaths of many innocent people, where the main characters are all heinous war criminals who never receive any comeuppance for their actions. Unlike ''Conspiracy'', however, ''Men Behind the Sun'' includes ''lots'' of {{Gorn}} (including a real cadaver) and gratuitous scenes of animal cruelty. This along with the fact that the film makes virtually no attempt to humanize either the victims or the perpetrators has led many to criticize the film for coming across as [[ExploitationFilm exploitative]] rather than informative.

* This is one of the reasons why the 2006 3D reboot of ''Film/{{Night Of The Living Dead|1968}}'' isn't very well-liked. Apart from being drastically different from the original, the tone is pretty bleak and most of the characters aren't exactly likable. [[spoiler:That, and they [[KillEmAll all pretty much die by the end of the film]]]].

** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' had this problem for some viewers, with ''everyone'' backstabbing each other and shifting alliances on a whim that it got hard to root for anyone by the end unless you cared about their motivations. Of course, such a thing should be expected, given that the protagonists are all pirates by this point, even Will and Elizabeth. Even so, the climax of the film had them cheer about how pirates represent freedom and such... when they pillage and murder. Hardly heroic.
** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'' suffers even more from this, as without Will and Elizabeth every major character in the film is basically a self-serving criminal.

* ''Film/ThePrestige'' suffered from this. Nolan didn't really give the audience enough clues about who the real protagonist was (the one we actually wanted to see win), because both main characters acted rather heinously at times. It isn't until the end when one character triumphs that the audience goes "Oh, I guess he was the good guy all along", and by then, we're not sure if we should be happy or angry about the outcome. This one is particularly tricky because [[spoiler:we don't know which twin was doing what throughout the movie. All we can really be sure of is that the brother that gets executed tried to save Angier from drowning. For all we know, the one that survives was responsible for all the worst things "Alfred" Borden did. About the only HopeSpot is that the surviving twin says he was the one who loved Sarah, which ''might'' indicate that he was Jess's real father and that he will work hard to give her a good life.]] It should be noted that the original which it was based on had two completely different protagonists who were the offspring of the magicians and were trying to reconcile why their families have been at odds for so long. The documents they find show that both men made a great deal of mistakes that led to being equally to blame. It also had a different ending.

* Arguably, part of what makes ''Film/ASerbianFilm'' so disturbing is how it seemingly goes out of its way to avert this trope at first. The opening scenes give the impression that it's going to be a sort of BlackComedy about a former porn star who's only looking to make ends meet for his family. It isn't until quite a ways in that things gradually get more disturbing until finally, Miloš is shown a film by Vukmir wherein an unseen man doing something unspeakable to a newly-born baby. This ultimately drives Miloš to try and walk away from the production in the hopes of regaining his sanity, only to wake up days later and learn through Flashbacks that he had been drugged and that the most gruesome events have already transpired. [[spoiler:It thus isn't until the very end of the film wherein Miloš realizes what all has happened that the despair finally kicks in and his family dying together feels almost merciful. UNTIL another movie crew visits the house and begin to do something unspeakable to the dead bodies...]]

* Although it's not too overbearing in ''{{Film/Stoker}}'' due to its dark sense of humor, the film's plot is ultimately [[spoiler: about a CreepyUncle seducing his niece and turning her into [[TheSociopath a sociopath]] and ultimately succeeding]].

* ''Film/TheThing1982'' has much the same problem as ''Literature/TheTerror'' (see [[TooBleakStoppedCaring/{{Literature}} Literature]]) - between the {{Gorn}}, the heavy-handed gloomy atmosphere, and the fact that the story follows a bunch of starving, freezing Antarctic researchers being stalked by a murderous EldritchAbomination, it's a pretty depressing experience. The fact that it ends with [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all the protagonists dead]] or doomed and the base destroyed]] could thus be considered almost merciful. Director Creator/JohnCarpenter has even attributed the film's poor box-office performance to this trope.
* ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'' nicely deconstructs this problem. The main characters are selfish, irritating assholes to all and sundry... and then are forced to ''realize'' this when [[spoiler:the Rapture occurs and ''no one'' at a Hollywood house party, themselves included, are considered good enough to make the cut]]. What follows is a set of characters coming to the conclusion that you ''can't'' be a complete dick to people, not if you want to actually enjoy your life, leading to [[spoiler:each of them making a HeroicSacrifice in turn for the others]].

* ''Film/VeryBadThings'' is a BlackComedy that focuses almost entirely on the "black" part, and not enough on the "comedy" part. The characters are all either assholes, psychopaths, complete wimps, or some combination thereof. The whole film is a downward spiral from bad to much, much, worse (it has so much murder and grisly fates that DeathAsComedy and BloodyHilarious stop being appliable), with next to no {{Hope Spot}}s. It's hard to feel sympathy for anyone and ends with the survivors literally ruined as human beings in one way or another.

* This was an issue that many critics, including Creator/RogerEbert, had with the infamous ''Alien'' rip-off ''Film/{{Xtro}}'' - the tone was so spiteful and nihilistic that many of them couldn't be bothered to care about the plot or characters. Not only is the film practically overflowing with [[TakeThat mean-spirited jabs]] at [[Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial other]] [[Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind films]] portraying extraterrestrial life as benevolent, it almost seems to mock the audience for believing in such a notion. The extremely bleak tone is not helped in the slightest by the distinct lack of likable characters - while Sam [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes does genuinely love his son]], the acts he commits [[WasOnceAMan in his new form]][[note]]which include killing the son's pet snake and eating its eggs as well as impregnating a woman and [[BodyHorror giving birth to himself fully grown]][[/note]] are so horrifying that it's difficult to see him as anything but a monster, and everyone else is either a victim or slimy and/or apathetic.

* ''Film/DontLookUp'' is a satirical take on disaster films, with the director fully admitting that it is meant as an {{Anvilicious}} take on [[GlobalWarming a real-life disaster]] that doesn't get the proper attention. The problem is, the cast is largely unsympathetic, as the two protagonists [[CassandraTruth are sadly ignored]] by [[ApatheticCitizens a willfully ignorant populace]] that either doesn't believe or is severely downplaying the fact that doomsday closing in on them, and those in a position of power to actually stop the catastrophe let their own staggering greed, incompetence and complacency take precedence over humanity's survival. The ending in which [[spoiler:the main characters fail and everyone dies]] is the source of the movie's mixed critical and audience response, with those that dislike the film deeming it [[spoiler:a needlessly depressing ShaggyDogStory]].

* Two words: ''Film/TheRoom''. Johnny is a borderline incomprehensible MartyStu who finds stories about domestic abuse funny, Lisa is incredibly stupid and/or callous, Mark is a douchebag and an idiot, and Denny has drug problems and a ''very'' creepy relationship with Johnny and Lisa. The writing and acting don't help, either. Some of the supporting cast aren't much better; Claudette is a more pragmatic version of Lisa, Chris-R is a violent drug dealer who holds Denny at gunpoint, Mike does absolutely nothing plot-relevant, Peter (the OnlySaneMan) goes missing halfway through the film, and Steven just casually saunters into the plot in the last twenty minutes and acts as if we have any idea who he is. Michelle is the OnlySaneMan who actually bothers to stick around for the duration of the film, and that isn't enough to prevent [[spoiler: Johnny's suicide]].

* The 1982 film version of Music/PinkFloyd's album ''Music/TheWall'' falls victim to this, to the point that neither lyricist/writer Roger Waters nor designer Gerald Scarfe are terribly fond of the finished result.

** His ''Halloween'' [[Film/{{Halloween2007}} remake]] and [[Film/HalloweenII2009 its sequel]] suffer from making almost every character an unlikeable {{Jerkass}}, even [[UpToEleven more so than the average slasher film]]. The few characters who aren't Jerkasses at the start either become one by the second film or disappear from the plot as quickly as possible.

* A version of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'' that got pretty far into production, with many key scenes already entering rough animation, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was discarded due to this reaction from test audiences]]. This incarnation of the film had ConMan [[FantasticFoxes Nick Wilde]] as the primary protagonist, and Zootopia was filled to the brim with open anti-predator prejudice, as exemplified by laws requiring all predators to wear {{shock collar}}s that go off whenever they get too excited for ''any'' reason. Moments such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7Br9p2f-Q "the taming party" scene]], combined with an already cynical point-of-view character, made the film's setting so dark that viewers wanted Nick to escape this awful police state rather than try and fix it. Their solution was to switch the focus to deuteragonist Judy Hopps, backtracking to when that character was still a WideEyedIdealist new to the police force, and the rest of the story and setting quickly followed suit to the point that the dystopian version of the film now comes across more as the BadFuture the final film's villain is aiming for.

* Similar to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' example listed below, ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' nearly suffered from this. Jeffrey Katzenberg [[ExecutiveMeddling urged the employees at Pixar to make the film "more adult" and "edgier"]]. The result was an early screening in which Woody and the other toys (aside from Buzz) were constantly-angry {{Jerkass}}es. In this version, Woody grabs Buzz and throws him out the window, then he and the other toys start yelling at each other, and the other toys attack him and throw him out the window too. Jeffery Katzenberg, Roy Disney, and Peter Schneider were appalled by it, and Pixar was given two weeks to rewrite the film as they saw fit and make Woody and the other toys more likable.

* A version of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'' that got pretty far into production, many key scenes already being animated, was discarded due to this reaction from test audiences. It focused on the ConMan [[FantasticFoxes Nick Wilde]] as a primary protagonist and involved open anti-predator prejudice as exemplified by laws requiring all predators to wear {{shock collar}}s that go off whenever they get too excited for ''any'' reason. Moments such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7Br9p2f-Q "the taming party" scene]] resulted in Zootopia effectively being a police state, and combined with an already cynical point-of-view character, made the film's setting so dark that test audeinces wanted Nick to escape Zootopia rather than to fix it. The solution was to shift focus towards WideEyedIdealist Judy Hopps, and the eventual story and setting became more viewer-friendly as whole. In fact, the early version of Zootopia is basically what the villain of the final film envisions for the city.

* An early draft (and by that, we mean "''was worked on for about four years''") of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'' was discarded for this reaction. It focused on the ConMan [[FantasticFoxes Nick Wilde]] as a primary protagonist and involved open anti-predator prejudice as exemplified by laws requiring all predators to wear {{shock collar}}s that go off whenever they get too excited. It was felt that doing this made Zootopia resemble a police state and combining that with an already cynical point-of-view character made the film so dark that viewers would rather want Nick to escape Zootopia than to fix it. The solution was to shift focus towards WideEyedIdealist Judy Hopps, and the eventual story and setting became more viewer-friendly as whole. In fact, the early version of Zootopia would probably have been a dream come true for the villain of the final film.

* ''Film/DontLookUp'' is a satirical take on disaster films, with the director fully admitting that it is meant as an {{Anvilicious}} take on [[GlobalWarming a real life disaster]] that doesn't get the proper attention. The problem is, the cast is largely unsympathetic, as the two protagonists [[CassandraTruth are sadly ignored]] by [[ApatheticCitizens a moronic populace]] that is ignorant to the doomsday closing in on them, and those in a position of power to actually stop the catastrophe let their staggering greed, incompetence and complacency take precedence over humanity's future survival. The ending in which [[spoiler:the main characters fail and everyone dies]] is the source of the movie's mixed critical response, with negative critics seeing it as [[spoiler:a needlessly depressing ShaggyDogStory]].

* ''Film/DontLookUp'' is a satirical take on disaster films, done as an {{Anvilicious}} take on [[GlobalWarming a real life disaster]] that doesn't get the proper attention. The problem is, the cast is largely unsympathetic, as the two protagonists [[CassandraTruth are sadly ignored]] by [[ApatheticCitizens a moronic populace]] that is ignorant to the doomsday closing in on them, and also those in a position of power that let their staggering greed, incompetence and complacency take precendence over survival. [[spoiler:In the end, everyone dies, and anyone who survived won't have very long to live.]]

** Besides the catchy tunes, ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' is a movie about a [[VillainProtagonist guy bent on revenge who kills people on the path to the]] DirtyOldMan who arrested him without reason to take his wife and daughter, and a woman who uses the victims [[IAmAHumanitarian on her pie shop...]] [[spoiler:and who so as to get a chance at a romance with Sweeney hid the fact that his wife, the reason for the whole carnage, was still alive.]] The perpetually bluish-gray color scheme does nothing to lighten the mood, either.

* An early draft (and by that, we mean "''was worked on for about four years''") of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'' was discarded for this reaction. It focused on the ConMan [[FantasticFoxes Nick Wilde]] as a primary protagonist and involved open anti-predator prejudice as exemplified by laws requiring all predators to wear {{shock collar}}s that go off whenever they get too excited. It was felt that doing this made Zootopia resemble a police state and combining that with an already cynical point-of-view character made the film so dark that viewers would rather want Nick to escape Zootopia than to fix it. The solution was to shift focus towards WideEyedIdealist Judy Hopps, and the eventual story and setting became more viewer-friendly as whole. If fact, the early version of Zootopia would probably have been a dream come true for the villain of the final film.

* One of the most common complaints about ''Film/OnlyGodForgives'' is that every character is either unlikable, inscrutable, or both. Also, the [[{{Gorn}} violence]] in this movie is ''[[ViolenceIsDisturbing borderline nauseating and brutal]]''.

* Two words: ''Film/TheRoom''. Johnny is a borderline incomprehensible Mary Sue who finds stories about domestic abuse funny, Lisa is incredibly stupid and/or callous, Mark is a douchebag and an idiot, and Denny has drug problems and a ''very'' creepy relationship with Johnny and Lisa. The writing and acting don't help, either. Some of the supporting cast aren't much better; Claudette is a more pragmatic version of Lisa, Chris-R is a violent drug dealer who holds Denny at gunpoint, Mike does absolutely nothing plot-relevant, Peter (the OnlySaneMan) goes missing halfway through the film, and Steven just casually saunters into the plot in the last twenty minutes and acts as if we have any idea who he is. Michelle is the OnlySaneMan who actually bothers to stick around for the duration of the film, and that isn't enough to prevent [[spoiler: Johnny's suicide]].
* While the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise started off as horror film series with effective use of psychological and tragedy elements to provoke feelings on audiences, later films make it hard to care about the protagonists and other characters, due to the movies' constant use of AnyoneCanDie and {{Downer Ending}}s. More often than not, a protagonist who's making good progress will abruptly die as a form of ShootTheShaggyDog or YankTheDogsChain at the end of their debut installment, and if they don't, it will happen in the next one with the application of SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome or DecoyProtagonist. The progressively larger amount of [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] as the storyline advances doesn't help either.

* One of the main problems with ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries'' is how bleak the setting is and how worse it constantly gets through every instalment.